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other forms of energy, while at the same time lowering their carbon Natural gas homes will also emit fewer emissions this winter. An
footprints. Even though a colder winter is expected this year causing Energy Star natural gas household could have a carbon footprint that
households to use more natural gas, they will still be saving money is 19% lower than an Energy Star heat pump and 64% lower emissions
and lowering their carbon footprint due to the economic and envi- compared to an electrical resistance furnace.
ronmental benefits of this fuel compared to other sources of energy. (continued on page 11)
The fuTure iS now: rnG could Be The MoST reliaBle and coST-effecTiVe renewaBle enerGy Source

protect the environment while still allowing customers
to enjoy the fuel they prefer.
Black Hills Energy, for example, has joined the ONE
Future Coalition, a group of natural gas companies
working together to voluntarily reduce methane emis- Courtesy of ChesaPeake utilities CorP .
sions across the natural gas value chain to 1% (or less)
by 2025. It is comprised of some of the largest natural
gas production, gathering and boosting, processing,
transmission and storage and distribution companies
in the United States.
Black Hills Energy serves over 1.3 million electric and
natural gas utility customers in more than 800 commu- Chesapeake Utilities Corp. recently completed its Noble
nities in Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Road Landfill Renewable Natural Gas pipeline project in
Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming. With 15 active Shiloh, Ohio (above), which includes a 33.1-mile pipeline.
or in-service projects and over 60 potential future proj-
ects identified, Black Hills Energy is experienced in RNG tion company OPAL Fuels LLC and Rumpke Waste &
production. At one of the current RNG projects, a land- Recycling to extract and capture waste methane from
fill in Sarpy County, New England, produces enough the Noble Road Landfill.
pipeline-quality RNG to fuel nearly 6,000 homes a year. OPAL Fuels will remove carbon dioxide and other
“Social responsibility and sustainability are inherent components from the methane, purifying the biogas
to our company’s mission and vision,” said Linn Evans, to pipeline quality standards. In addition to supplying
president and chief operating officer of Black Hills Aspire Energy’s customers, the RNG will be dispensed
Corp., the parent company of Black Hills Energy. into fueling stations to fuel compressed natural gas
This demonstrates that the natural gas industry can (CNG) vehicles also via OPAL Fuels. The Noble Road
minimize methane emissions and increase production project will capture and transport quantities of re-
and throughput while supplying much needed energy newable natural gas equivalent to 6.9 million gaso-
to the U.S. for years to come. line gas equivalents (GGE) per year, enough to fuel
Another utility supporting RNG innovation is Chesa- 725 biofuel trucks.
peake Utilities Corp. It recently completed the con- “The Noble Road pipeline represents the first of
struction of its Noble Road Landfill Renewable Natural many RNG projects under development that will deliv-
Gas pipeline project. Its subsidiary, Aspire Energy of er energy that contributes to a sustainable future,” said
Ohio, constructed the 33.1-mile pipeline, which will Jeff Householder, CEO of Chesapeake Utilities. “Trans-
transport RNG generated from the Noble Road Land- porting RNG from the landfill through our pipeline
fill in Shiloh, Ohio, to Aspire Energy’s pipeline system, system provides a path to markets that supports the
displacing conventionally-produced natural gas. Aspire economics of the biogas production and significantly
Energy partnered with RNG production and distribu- reduces total carbon emissions.” n

Spring - Summer 2022 ❙ naturalliving 05
Please recycle this magazine after you read it.